His priorities: building out the interactive business and cutting costs.

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"The Playboy brand represents enormous opportunity," Flanders told the Chicago Sun-Times. "My goal is to maximize the power of the brand in order to create shareholder value for Playboy's customers, employees and shareholders."

The company was forced to close its New York offices and cut other costs as its bread-and-butter magazine has struggled financially.

Flanders ran Freedom Communications, which owns local TV stations and newspapers, for three years. Flanders was CEO at Columbia House for six years before going to Freedom Communications. Before that, he served as CEO of Telstreet.com.

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Despite reports last week that the company created by Hugh Hefner was looking for a buyer, including Virgin's Richard Branson, experts say Flanders will focus his efforts on turning the company around instead of selling it.

Former CEO and Hefner's daughter, Christie, resigned in December. Jerome Kern has run the company in the interim.